There were other arenas Duke could have considered for the annual December home-away-from-home game in the New York-New Jersey area. The world-famous Madison Square Garden has hosted 23 Duke games (and 17 Blue Devil wins) in the Coach K era, and both Seton Hall Basketball and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils moved into the state-of-the-art Prudential Center when it opened in Newark in 2007. Duke instead tipped off against Xavier, where Meadowlands magic happens.
“It’s one of those games that you play in December in hopes that you have a game of this magnitude in March,” Coach K said about playing the seventh-ranked Musketeers. “That’s why you schedule it, and you schedule it in a place that loves basketball and has been the site of many NCAA games.”
In addition to serving as the site of more NCAA Tournament regional championships than any other arena in the modern era (11), East Rutherford’s Meadowlands complex has provided a stage for Duke to make history. Opened a few months after Coach K wrapped up his first season as Duke Head Coach in 1981, five of the Hall of Famer’s 10 Final Four runs have gone through East Rutherford including his first in 1986. Duke is unbeaten in 10 NCAA Tournament games in the last traditional arena to host the Final Four (1996).
“We’ve been fortunate to play some of the biggest games in the history of our program in that building,” Coach K remarked. “Every time I either fly over it or drive past it or obviously play in it, it conjures up memories of some great, great games — some of the best games really in the history of college basketball.”
On the way to an 18-1 record at the Meadowlands including an 8-1 mark against ranked teams, some of the all-time great Duke teams and players have enjoyed trips to New Jersey. In total, the Blue Devils have brought top 10 teams into 15 of the 19 games in the arena, and each of Coach K’s jersey retirees (nine) and National Players of the Year (seven) played in the arena while in college.
One such player was Christian Laettner, whose buzzer-beater against third-ranked UConn in the 1990 NCAA Tournament at the Meadowlands sent Duke to the Final Four. With the No. 15 Blue Devils trailing 78-77 in overtime, Laettner grabbed the in-bounds pass and hit a double-clutch shot at the horn for his 22nd and 23rd points in the game. Another memorable Laettner outing in New Jersey came during the 1989 Big Dance, when a young freshman from Angola, NY recorded his season-high 24 points and grabbed nine boards to propel No. 9 Duke past No. 2 Georgetown 85-77 in the Elite Eight.
Duke fans will not soon forget Jason Williams’ game against No. 7 Kentucky in a regular-season, non-conference battle in the 2001 Jimmy V Classic. The New Jersey native erupted for a career-high 38 points (12-21 FG, 7-10 3pt) to lead the top-ranked Blue Devils past No. 7 Kentucky 95-92 in overtime.
The single-game scoring record for a Blue Devil in the Meadowlands came in 2005 when J.J. Redick put on a clinic in a heavyweight clash pitting No. 1 Duke against No. 2 Texas. The sharpshooter matched his career-high with 41 points (13-24 FG, 9-16 3pt) as the Blue Devils cruised to a remarkable 97-66 win.
“I just remember watching J.J. shoot here a couple of years ago with confidence,” said Jon Scheyer after the game against Xavier. “I wanted to shoot with the same confidence.”
Scheyer did just that, scoring 23 points on 9-11 shooting from the floor. In doing so, Jon joined a distinguished list of Blue Devils who have scored at least 20 in a single game at the Meadowlands that includes Duke standouts such as Johnny Dawkins, Danny Ferry, Laettner, Grant Hill, Elton Brand, Jason Williams, Mike Dunleavy, Shelden Williams, and Redick.
After J.J.’s career game in 2005, Coach K remarked, “You could write a book about our games in this arena, and it would be an amazing book, at least for Duke fans.” The victory over Xavier, in which the Blue Devils jumped out to a memorable 31-point halftime lead against a top 10 opponent, provided yet another chapter. Here’s hoping the Blue Devils, and the Big Dance, return to East Rutherford ASAP.
Winter break is always a great time for the team to recharge and prepare for the rigorous ACC schedule that gets rolling in January. Our players were able to spend some quality time at home after our Xavier game before returning the day after Christmas. Now, with the team back and the campus still quiet, our players have time to really get after it in practice and in the weight room, while spending more time together off the court hanging out as well.
With ACC play kicking off in a week, I asked Jon Scheyer what he thinks the team has done well so far and what we are working on to prepare for the toughest part of the season. Jon responded, “Outside of one game, I think this team has been really hungry and fearless. Our defense has been great. Those three qualities can take us a long way. I think our offense has hurt our defense a little bit. Going forward we need to get good shots and not turn the ball over. If we do that, we will be hard to beat.”
10 Memorable Meadowlands Moments
1. 3-24-90 | No. 15 Duke vs. No. 3 UConn (Elite 8, W 79-78 OT)
Alaa Abdelnaby gave Duke 27 points and 14 boards, and two of Christian Laettner’s 23 points came at the buzzer in this Elite Eight thriller that sent Duke to the Final Four for the third straight year.
2. 3-23-86 | No. 1 Duke vs. No. 17 Navy (Elite 8, W 71-50)
Johnny Dawkins made sure Coach K would reach his first Final Four, contributing 28 points and seven boards against a Navy team led by David Robinson.
3. 3-26-89 | No. 9 Duke vs. No. 2 Georgetown (Elite 8, W 85-77)
In a Laettner performance that may get overlooked due to his many other big moments, Christian scored 24 points and pulled down nine boards as a freshman to lead Duke past a second-ranked Georgetown squad that featured Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, and Charles Smith.
4. 3-26-88 | No. 5 Duke vs. No. 1 Temple (Elite 8, W 63-53)
Danny Ferry’s 20 points and 5 boards paced Duke in an upset win over No. 1 Temple that sent the Blue Devils to the Final Four for the second time in three years.
5. 3-21-99 | No. 1 Duke vs. Temple (Elite 8, W 85-64)
11 years later, Duke and Temple met again in the Elite Eight at the Meadowlands, and Trajan Langdon (23 points) and Elton Brand (21 points) made this one easier for the top-ranked Blue Devils.
6. 12-18-01 | No. 1 Duke vs. No. 7 Kentucky (W 95-92 OT)
It took overtime to settle the 2001 Jimmy V Classic as Jason Williams poured in a career-high 38 points to lead No. 1 Duke past No. 7 Kentucky.
7. 12-10-05 | No. 1 Duke vs. No. 2 Texas (W 97-66)
In a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown, J.J. Redick picked a good time for perhaps the finest outing of his career, scoring 41 points and leading Duke past Texas.
8. 12-22-98 | No. 2 Duke v. No. 3 Kentucky (W 71-60)
In another Meadowlands matchup between two of the most storied programs in history, Elton Brand scored 22 points and grabbed 8 boards to lead Duke past No. 3 Kentucky.
9. 3-24-88 | No. 5 Duke vs. Rhode Island (Sweet 16, W 73-72)
Rhode Island tested fifth-ranked Duke in this Sweet 16 matchup but Robert Brickey hit four key free throws down the stretch to help secure the win for the Blue Devils.
10. 12-20-08 | No. 6 Duke vs. No. 7 Xavier (W 82-64)
Jon Scheyer scored 14 of his 23 points in the first nine minutes of the game as Duke raced out to a 31-point halftime lead against seventh-ranked Xavier.
Duke at the Meadowlands
*Duke is 18-1 all-time
*Duke has a higher winning percentage (.947) in the Meadowlands than any other building in which the Blue Devils have played at least 10 games (including Cameron).
*Five of Coach K’s 10 Final Fours have gone through East Rutherford
Only one active coach has reached more Final Fours in total (Roy Williams with six) than Coach K’s five at the Meadowlands
*Duke is 8-1 against ranked teams
*Duke has been ranked No. 1 in seven of the 19 games
*Duke has been ranked in the Top 10 in 15 of the 19 games
Quote Board
“I don’t go out on the court until the last few minutes and I was really just jacked up for the game and the court looked great. I told my staff it was like going to the best restaurant. It was done well. They had an NBA game [Friday] night and another one [Saturday] night. They have to bust their rear ends to make that happen. I just think that extra attention sets the stage for some good things. They have always done that here.” Coach K, after the Xavier game
ESPN’s Dana O’Neil wrote a nice article about Jon Scheyer and our big win against No. 7 Xavier and Andy Katz included the Illinois native among his top five players of the week nationally. Jon had one of the best games of his Duke career, with 23 points on 9-11 shooting from the floor. 14 of those points came in the first nine minutes of the first half as we opened the game on a 22-3 run on the way to a 31-point halftime advantage.
Said Coach K about the unselfish Scheyer after the game, “I think it was the first game this year where he didn’t hesitate on his shot. Jon is a good shooter, but he’s a player. So sometimes when he has his shot, he looks to make a play, and in that split second, his shot is no longer there. So when he does come off like that, I told him, ‘Look, if your shot is there and then the play — in that order — instead of the play, then shot.’”
Cleveland Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry has built a strong supporting cast around star LeBron James and the team is off to its best start in franchise history. At 26-4, the team leads the Central Division by eight games and boasts the second-best record in the NBA.
Ferry, recently profiled in the News & Observer, has added Mo Williams, Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West to the squad over the past year and the team is playing well together. “The biggest thing is just the chemistry that the group has amongst one another,” said head coach Mike Brown. “They like each other a ton and they want to play for one another, which makes it fun.”
LeBron is pleased with the direction the team is heading as well. The 2008 Olympic gold medalist stated, “The direction we’re headed in is everything that I expected and more.” With James’ contract expiring after the 2009-2010 season, the Cavs organization would like to sign their franchise player to an extension this summer. “After this season, I think I will consider it,” said James recently about signing a long-term deal with Cleveland amid rumors that New York is creating salary cap space to lure James to the Big Apple in 2010.
Ferry took over as Cavs GM before the 2005-06 campaign, and has since guided the team to three straight playoff appearances and the 2007 Eastern Conference championship. He said the work ethic he developed at Duke has helped him in the NBA. “The one thing that helped me most when I got to the NBA was I knew how to work — I learned what hard work was,” said Ferry. ”I had great mentors, some of the guys that came before me. It really sets the tone for the entire program — One of excellence and what it took to get there. There was a culture instilled in us where you work hard on improving and get better.”
Danny Ferry at Duke
*Years: 1985-1989
*1989 National Player of the Year
*Reached three Final Fours
*Holds ACC single-game scoring record (58 points)
*Second pick of 1989 NBA Draft
*Enjoyed 13-year NBA playing career
*Won NBA title with Spurs in 2003
Getty Images/Jonathan Daniel
